In conventional file cabinets and other types of storage cabinets, the individual side walls of the cabinet typically are held together by interior frame members or rectangular base frames. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,819 245 discloses a metal rectangular frame to which the separate side walls of a cabinet are connected.
In some storage cabinets, the side walls are made of wood and in particular, include a core which is formed of a manufactured wood material such as particle board and is covered with a wood laminate. It is known to provide wood support rails which extend laterally between a spaced apart pair of side walls.
While the wood rails and the wood side walls can be readily connected together by threaded fasteners such as screws, the joint formed therebetween may still be subject to failure. In particular, the wood support rails typically are supported on the upper ends of glides or casters wherein the weight of the side walls is transferred to the wood rails through the fasteners connected therebetween. If the file cabinet is dropped, the weight of the cabinet is driven downwardly to the fastener and either the side walls or the wood support rails may splinter resulting in failure of the file cabinet.
This is particularly true for storage cabinets having slidable drawers since the drawers typically are supported on the side walls adding further weight to the cabinet. While the wood support rails may alternatively be made of a metal, such failures may still occur since the side walls are still made of wood products.
In addition to the potential for failure, the support rails or base frames typically are formed with a predefined fixed size wherein different size rails or frames are required for different size file cabinets. This results in multiple variations of the same part.
It therefore is an object of the invention to overcome a number of the disadvantages associated with prior file cabinet constructions.
More particularly, the invention relates to a universal wall support or frame member which connects cabinet side walls together, particularly those made of wood. The universal wall support has a telescoping construction which may be extended to any desired length and fixed at a set length such that a single universal wall support is usable for different size cabinet constructions.
The universal wall support includes opposite end sections which are telescopingly engaged together for use with a first range of cabinet sizes, and may include an intermediate extender section which is slidably engaged with a pair of the opposite end sections to permit use with a second range of cabinet sizes.
The opposite end sections further include cantilevered support flanges which project sidewardly to define vertical support surfaces upon which the bottom edges of the side walls are supported. The support flanges provide vertical support to the side walls, for example, when the cabinet is dropped. As a result, the support flanges significantly increase the overall strength of the cabinet.